Best dirt-cheap car?

[cheesehead]

A friend of mine is in a bit of a jam. Due to incredibly severe medical conditions beyond his control (primarily epilepsy), he's had to go on our state-provided emergency insurance program just to cover his vast medical bills. However, there's a bit of a snag - to be covered by said program, he may work no more than 14.5 hours a week. In short, he's pretty broke.

Coincidentally, his Focus wagon is on its' last legs, and he's going to need a replacement soon. For a price of less than $3500, what reliable (if distasteful) form of transportation would you buy? For this price, you can get a variety of Kias and Hyundais with less than 80,000 miles, and I'm told that the more recent (2005 and later) korean cars, while unpleasant, are very near as reliable as their Japanese counterparts.

 

[Vette73]

For $3500 finding a car that has been taken care of is better then the name.


Like you started...

Kia/Hyundias are a good start.

Ford Focus
Pontiac G6
Nissan Sentra

are all cars that are not thought up first and have lowwer resale.


But what is wrong with his current car? Why fix it right and just keep it?

 

[Arkaign]

If fuel economy isn't a severe requirement, another great option is '90s-era Buick/Pontiac vehicles with the 3800 V6. They are very reliable, and they also typically have crappy paint jobs and poorly-assembled interiors (comfy though!), which drives the already low resale value down a LOT. During a tough year I bought a $500 1996 LeSabre with ~150k on the clock and crap paint, everything worked on it, including cold AC, and I sold it about 75k miles later for the same price I paid for it, and other than having to replace the part where you put the key into the steering column (the wires that connected the security chip reader frayed and broke) and a starter at 200k, the thing was bulletproof. I've heard from enough trusted mechanics to know that the GM 3800s are tanks.

You can find relatively low-miles examples for that price range. Fuel economy is about 18/25 or so, probably low 20s mixed, although I could get near 30mpg on the freeway between Waco and DFW.

The above options are also good!

 

[arcenite]

geo metro

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Mazda Protege

Geo Prism

Saturn SC

Hyundai Elantra

 

[kornphlake]

Saturn S series, keep an eye on the oil and they'll go 250k + without any major repairs, common stuff like alternators, starters, clutches etc will need replacing at some point but parts are cheap and they're fairly easy to work on yourself. The owners forum at saturnfans.com is pretty helpful too.

 

[punjabiplaya]

my friend just got a 96 Century for $3500. He broke the rearview mirror (easy fix). The wheel bearings on one wheel did need replacing though.

 

[CurseTheSky]

The late 90s / early 2000s Hyundai Elantras apparently have transmission issues. The one we had (gifted to a friend of the family) is apparently throwing codes now, and the searching I've done hasn't given a good prognosis.

I agree with Arkaign - find something with a crap interior but a drivetrain known to be reliable. Do some research on whatever vehicles you check out to see what the common problems are, or something could bite you in the ass.

 

[halik]

If fuel economy isn't a severe requirement, another great option is '90s-era Buick/Pontiac vehicles with the 3800 V6. They are very reliable, and they also typically have crappy paint jobs and poorly-assembled interiors (comfy though!), which drives the already low resale value down a LOT. During a tough year I bought a $500 1996 LeSabre with ~150k on the clock and crap paint, everything worked on it, including cold AC, and I sold it about 75k miles later for the same price I paid for it, and other than having to replace the part where you put the key into the steering column (the wires that connected the security chip reader frayed and broke) and a starter at 200k, the thing was bulletproof. I've heard from enough trusted mechanics to know that the GM 3800s are tanks.

You can find relatively low-miles examples for that price range. Fuel economy is about 18/25 or so, probably low 20s mixed, although I could get near 30mpg on the freeway between Waco and DFW.

The above options are also good!

The interior and electronics on those cars go like no other. My room mate had an oldsmobile of that era and was fixing little electrical things (no heater blower, radio, no start condition due to the resistance-based immobilizer thing) all the time. Also starters and alternators have issues.

 

[Iron Woode]

I bought a 1998 Ford Contour. So far its been a fine car.

 

[brblx]

For $3500 finding a car that has been taken care of is better then the name.

this times a thousand.

so far as what brands to consider, if he wants the most reliable, it's probably going to be a honda or toyota- but they're not far enough above everyone else to warrant the typical price premium.

hyundai or kia is a good choice. if dirt cheap transportation is the name of the game, you can probably get a pretty recent rio or some such for 3-4k. in addition to the koreans, you might as well look at the 'other' jap brands, like mitsu and subaru. both are decent cars.

for $3500, i'd honestly stay away from most domestics. and i'm sure someone will argue that it's wrong to lump them all together, but in his price range (probably talking early 2000's or maybe even late 90's), ford and chevy just didn't have terribly great offerings.

 

[iGas]

Best Used vehicle for under $20,000

Less than $4,000

Ford F-150 (V6, 2WD) '99
Mazda B-Series (2WD) '99
Subaru Impreza '99
Toyota Corolla ’99; Echo '00-01

$4,000-$6,000

Acura CL ’99; Integra ’99-00; TL '99-00
Buick Century '03
Chevrolet Prizm ’99-02; Silverado 1500 (V6, 2WD) ’00-01; Tracker '02
Ford Crown Victoria ’99-01; F-150 (V6, 2WD) ’00; F-150 (V6, 4WD) ’00-01; F-150 (V8, 2WD) ’99-01; F-150 (V8, 4WD) ’00; F-250 (2WD) ’99; F-250 (turbodiesel, 2WD) ’99; Ranger (2WD) '99-00
GMC Sierra 1500 (V6, 2WD) '00-01
Honda Accord ’99-00; Civic ’99-01; CR-V ’99; Insight '00
Hyundai Accent ’04-05; Elantra ’04; Santa Fe (V6) ’01; XG350 '03
Infiniti G20 '99-00, '02
Lincoln Continental '00-01
Mazda B-Series (2WD) ’00-01; Protege '01-02
Mercury Grand Marquis '99-01
Mitsubishi Galant ’00; Lancer '02
Nissan Altima ’99; Frontier ’99; Pathfinder '99-00
Subaru Legacy '99
Toyota Avalon ’99; Camry ’99; Camry Solara ’99-00; Celica ’99; Corolla ’00-02; Echo ’02-03; RAV4 ’99; Sienna '99-00

 

[brblx]

eheh. reinforces what i said- the american picks are trucks or cars built like trucks. plenty of smaller cars from the japanese and koreans. no germans.

unless of course, he wants a truck or a vic. but i'm guessing he's looking at midsize or smaller.

 

[CrackRabbit]

Jeep Cherokee, Wrangler or Comanche.
The I6 in those things are nearly indestructible and the transmissions are fairly tough as well as long as you stick to the two wheel drive models.
Only real weak spots are the steering gear (lots of ball joints to wear out) and the cooling system (radiator fails and causes overheating and blown head gaskets).
The one I have has almost 185k on the clock and will probably go another 50-100k without major work easily.

 

[cheesehead]

Yep.

Someone else I know is currently looking for a car on a $1500 budget. After much discussion, I've managed to convince them that a 1993 Pontiac Sunbrid convertible is not a good choice.

 

[Ka0t1x]

I have a 97 Wrangler Sahara with the 4.0L I6.. 141k miles, I just recently had to replace the stabilizer shock and tie rod, but those are relatively cheap. Last month when I replaced the brakes, the rear drums were actually OEM equipment. If they can drive a 5spd, you can probably get a good deal on one.

 

[exar333]

A mid to late 90's Ranger/S10/Sonoma would be a no-frills reliable i4 truck for a great price. My dad had a '92 Sonoma for over 10 years and only had to replace the clutch (which was cheap anyway). Very reliable truck.

 

[iamwiz82]

Jeep Cherokee, Wrangler or Comanche.
The I6 in those things are nearly indestructible and the transmissions are fairly tough as well as long as you stick to the two wheel drive models.
Only real weak spots are the steering gear (lots of ball joints to wear out) and the cooling system (radiator fails and causes overheating and blown head gaskets).
The one I have has almost 185k on the clock and will probably go another 50-100k without major work easily.

2wd and 4wd models have the same transmissions and the automatic (Aisin Warner AW4) is pretty much bullet proof.

 

[CrackRabbit]

2wd and 4wd models have the same transmissions and the automatic (Aisin Warner AW4) is pretty much bullet proof.

Quite true, but some of the 4wd transfer cases were not as solid though.
A 2wd model will also be less expensive to purchase due to being less desirable by off-roaders.

 

[iamwiz82]

Quite true, but some of the 4wd transfer cases were not as solid though.
A 2wd model will also be less expensive to purchase due to being less desirable by off-roaders.

The 231 and 242 transfer cases are both fine. The 249 (only available in the V8 Grand Cherokee) was flakey, though.

 

[cheesehead]

I have a 97 Wrangler Sahara with the 4.0L I6.. 141k miles, I just recently had to replace the stabilizer shock and tie rod, but those are relatively cheap. Last month when I replaced the brakes, the rear drums were actually OEM equipment. If they can drive a 5spd, you can probably get a good deal on one.

The biggest problem with the Jeeps is that to get one cheaply, it would have to be RWD, and around here, that's a deal killer. Also, most of the people I've met with Jeep products have had extremely bad luck with them - unless you can do your own work, I'd rather not recommend one.